The Indianapolis Colts elevated Kenneth Harris from the practice squad to the active roster on Saturday and ruled Austin Ajiake out for Sunday’s game against the Baltimore Ravens. Harris will be on the game-day roster for one week only and then revert to the practice squad after the game.
The move matters because the Colts needed another body for a defense that is still sorting out availability before the regular-season kickoff. Austin Ajiake had practiced on Wednesday and Thursday, but a hamstring injury kept him out on Friday and left him as the only Colts player still carrying an injury designation by then. By Saturday, that cautious progression had turned into a clean downgrade to out.
Harris was the specific call-up because roster math now matters as much as health. The Colts will have Akeem Davis-Gaither, Jaylon Carlies, CJ Allen, Bryce Boettcher and Tahj Chambers available at linebacker on Sunday, so the elevation fits the kind of one-game insurance teams use when they want one more healthy option without making a longer commitment. Ajiake, if he had been available, would have been part of that linebacker pool on game day.
The rest of the Colts’ injury picture points in the same direction. Daniel Jones, DeForest Buckner, Sauce Gardner, Charvarius Ward Sr., Justin Walley, Hunter Wohler and Spencer Shrader are back after spending much or all of 2025 injured, while Alec Pierce is cleared after returning to practice a few weeks ago. A.J. Haulcy practiced all week and is also set for Sunday, which leaves the Colts with more available pieces than they had through much of the buildup to this game.
That still does not make the roster clean. Cam Taylor-Britt is serving a one-game suspension for violating the league’s personal conduct policy and is slated to return in Week 2, so the Colts’ early-season group is being shaped by both returns and absences at the same time. Against a Baltimore Ravens team that will be without Teddye Buchanan and Nnamdi Madubuike, with Devontez Walker listed as questionable, Sunday at Lucas Oil Stadium is already a test of depth before the ball is even snapped.
For Kenneth Harris, the assignment is simple: cover the gap for one day and then go back where he came from. For the Colts, the bigger question is whether the roster they bring to Lucas Oil Stadium at 1:00 p.m. ET on CBS is finally close enough to full strength to make the opener feel like the start of a season, not a recovery plan.
